4/9

I hope you’re thirsty
it’s gonna to be a mess
my new mistake
smokes
red Pall Malls and
tosses her hair like
Elizabeth Taylor,
whispers
when it’s dirty
and crosses her stems
like flower crowns
clinging to porcelain.
I’m sure
this
is all going to end
very badly
but I’ve
made a drink
and buckled in.

Pretty girls
born in the 80s
carry the residue of
Molly Ringwald
and Siouxsie Sioux
without knowing who

A bit about Opalina: Opalina Salas is a poet, a former bookstore owner, and creator and host of the Poets on X+ reading series, held in her beloved home of Oak Cliff, TX. Her first collection of poetry, slated for release in April 2019, Black Sparrow Dress, reflects a lifetime of engagement and evolution as a poet and a person.

She was an editor for the femme lit zine, Let It Bleed and is a Contributing Poet on Mad Swirl.com. Her poem, “,” was featured in CITY OF ____________: DISPATCHES FROM 16 DALLAS POETS. She is also a host and co-conspirator for ATTACK OF THE POETS, an annual multi-day festival, held in Oak Cliff, TX, hosting poets from around the US, bridging the gaps between various literary communities far and wide.

She got her start as a spoken word performer at the legendary Club Clearview Dallas Poetry Slam. She has performed at the first annual New Orleans Poetry Fest of 2016 and was featured at the Texas Beat Poetry Festival 2012, Forest Fest in Lamesa, TX in 2011. In and around Dallas, TX, she has performed for OPP: Other People’s Poetry, has featured at Pandora’s Box, at Arte y Pan Dulce, a PoC Art Show, and is a regular as Mad Swirl’s Open Mic on first Wednesdays. She is the Vice President of the WordSpace board and a member of the poetry collective Tejana Cosmica.

She has been writing and performing in and around the DFW area for 20 years with her comrade, partner and fellow poet, Carlos Salas.